Nyx's Change of Fate
by Peve3
Summary: A sequel to Percy's Heritage. Please read that first. To avoid losses in a war after the Giant War, Lady Nyx devises a plan to send ten demigods back to the year after Thalia becomes a tree with Chronus' help. The time spell seems to have messed up though. How? Come find out. Yes it's a 'reading the book' story. I plan to finish the series, not it's not the same as all the others.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Hello people! Thanks to all those who decided to continue on to this story of mine. If you have not, I recommend you read ****Percy's Heritage****first. There are things in there that will take too long to explain in an author's note. I took a vote of when the demigods should appear, and the year after Thalia becomes a tree but the heroes of old are there won by two votes. I will continue to do my best. Now is the time where I would thank each reviewer separately, but there were quite a few of you, so I'm saying thanks to all. I'm sorry if you didn't get what you wanted, but I put it to a vote and I will go with the audience. **

**P.S. I know the heroes of old should have the old accent, but I am having a hard time trying to figure out when to use thy and thou, plus it would be like five stories like that, so lets just assume you can pretend they have the old accent.**

**Bold is Rick Riordan's work.**

Normal is mine.

_Italic is either thoughts or telepathy. _

**So let's get this party started. **

**Disclaimer: I disclaim all the parts you know belong to Rick. I'm not quite as good as he is. **

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

On Olympus-Ancient times

There was an important meeting going on. The most powerful heroes had been called together. Just because it was a meeting, did not mean that they were getting along. The gods had invited Hercules, Orion, Perseus, Theseus, and Jason to witness the meeting. In order to have another male hating female at the meeting, Artemis had brought her lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade. "Milady, you know I despise being near that…beast. May I return to the Hunt, Lady?" Artemis sighed. Normally her lieutenant was not like this.

"Zoe, I need your support. I shall go crazy if I am near my pig-headed brother too long without someone sane to talk to." Apollo over heard.

"My dear little sister, who are you calling pig-headed?" Artemis turned red.

"I told you! I am the eldest!"

"Enough, both of you. You have had this argument too many times." Zeus groaned. The other gods were in their own arguments with each other. Hades was due to arrive any minute, and Zeus did not want to see out of control or order in front of his older brother. "EVERYONE! STOP ARGUING! " He accompanied his order with a flash of lightning and the sound of thunder. It became so quiet on Olympus, you could hear a pin drop. "Thank you. Hades is set to arrive soon, and all you can do is argue like children."

"You have no room to talk dear." Hera started. "You pick fights with Poseidon all the time."

"Yes, well, I am king and the rules don't apply to me." There was a sound of choked back laughter. The room turned to see Hades standing at to doorway.

"Glad to see you don't change Zeus."

"You don't change much either _brother_. Sending half the monsters of the Underworld after your niece? Very Hades like." Zeus glared at his brother. Hades glared right back.

"You were the one that broke your oath." He declared as he waved his hand, creating a throne.

Just as Hades sat down in a temporary throne, a bright light filled the room. It was so bright, they had to look away. When it died down, there were fifteen demigods standing there. Ten of them immediately became alert when they realized where they were, and the other five quickly caught on. As one, they ducked, and not a moment too soon. A flash of lightning went right over their heads.

"Don't kill us! We mean no harm!"

"We are here to help!" Then one girl stood up and looked right at Zeus.

"Da-er, Lord Zeus, please do not fry us with your scary Master Bolt. We have some things you need to know." When Zeus nodded, a blonde girl stepped up.

(Line Break)

With the Demigods

They disappeared in a flash of light. Traveling through time was not like they showed in the movies. There was no swirly vortex or events happening backwards. It was like teleporting. Instantaneously, they were back in time. When they landed, they saw there was a meeting going on. Just as suggested, they ducked. _Close call._ Percy thought as he felt the lightning fly past his head. He heard Piper yell, with a bit of charmspeak, "Don't kill us! We mean no harm."

Hazel added, "We are here to help!" Thalia looked as if she had had enough.

"Da-er, Lord Zeus," she began. "Please do not fry us with your scary Master Bolt. We have some things you need to know." Not catching the sarcasm, Zeus nodded has assent. All the demigods turned to Annabeth to explain. She stepped forward.

"Lord Zeus, we have- Oh gods. Please tell me that's not Theseus and Orion and the others over there." When she said these names, the other future kids turned and their jaws dropped. This was bad.

"Theseus and Orion have been dead for mill-they are standing right over there." Hermes said, gaping at them.

Athena wanted answers. "Why are you here in the future?" The heroes of old just stared at her. They then began to talk quickly in a different language.

Annabeth turned back to her friends. "Oh gods, this is horrible. We were only supposed to go back around a decade. That part worked, but I think that it attracted the other heroes as well." The Roman demigods looked somewhat confused.

"We can't understand a word they are saying." Jason said as he gestured to his namesake. Annabeth cursed.

"They are from Greece. Latin hasn't been invented yet." The Romans groaned.

"Demigods, please explain." Athena asked. Annabeth turned around slowly.

"First things first. Can you please bless the ancient Greek demigods so they can understand what we are saying?." Athena nodded and blessed them with the knowledge of the English language.

"It is done." Annabeth cleared her throat to speak.

"Well, it's a long story, so please don't interrupt." The gods nodded. "Okay so we are from the future. We have lost many friends, and are about to face an impossible war. Well another war. We were sent back in time by Ladies Nyx, Hemera, and Ananke and Lord Chronos. Lord Chronos must have messed up on the spell, because we were only supposed to go back a little over a decade. We are from thousands of years in the future. I swear on the Styx." She added. The gods stared at them. The past heroes looked curious.

"If you are from the future, how famous am I? By the way, you are a beautiful woman. You must be a daughter of Aphrodite, or at least blessed by her." Hercules asked Annabeth. Percy looked furious.

"You are well known, but the truth isn't. I know how you betrayed Zoe Nightshade for your own gain. I know how much of a pompous brat you act like. By the way, she is my girlfriend, and the smartest daughter of Athena you will ever find!" Percy glared at the hero. Hercules glared right back.

"You don't know who or what you speak about, half-blood." Percy was about to retort, but was cut off by Annabeth.

"Not now, Percy. You can avenge Zoe later. Right now, we have to introduce ourselves." Zoe spoke up from beside Artemis.

"I do not need a boy to avenge me! He doesn't even know me." Annabeth sighed.

"It will hopefully be explained some in the accounts of the wars. May we introduce ourselves, Lord Zeus?" He nodded. "I am Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, counselor of Cabin Six, leader of Camp Half-Blood, finder of Zeus's bolt, finder of the Golden Fleece, bearer of the sky (Atlas' burden), traveler of the Labyrinth, receiver of the spirit of Pan, bearer of the cursed blade, survivor of the Battle of Manhattan, architect of Olympus, returner of Hermes caduceus, one of the seven Heroes of Olympus, carrier of the Mark of Athena, finder of _Athena Parthenos_, survivor of Tartarus, bane of Giants, defier of Gaia." The gods looked impressed. Piper stepped forward, but Athena spoke up.

"You found _Athena Parthenos_? Where is it? I am sorry for cursing you with my mark daughter, but I am not myself when it comes to…my other side." As she said this, her form flickered.

"Yes, I found it. It definitely was a curse," Annabeth murmured, thinking of Arachne. Piper waited a minute before starting her introduction.

"I am Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, Charmspeaker, Counselor of Cabin Ten, one of the Seven Heroes of Olympus, wielder of Katoptris, rescuer of Hera, stealer of Achelous' horn, the Horn of Plenty, returner of _Athena Parthenos,_ bane of Giants, defier of Gaia." Before anyone could interrupt, Percy stepped forward.

"I am Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, counselor of Cabin Three, leader of Camp Half-Blood, weilder f _Anaklusmos,_ one of the seven Heroes of Olympus, slayer of the Minotaur- several times, slayer of Medusa, defeater of Ares, returner of Zeus's bolt, returner of Hades Helm, finder of the Golden Fleece, protector of the Ophiotaurus, slayer of the Nemean Lion (with Zoe's help), rescuer of Artemis, bearer of the sky, child of the Great Prophecy, traveler of the Labyrinth, slayer of Antaeus, receiver of the spirit of Pan, bearer of the curse of Achilles-which I lost, defeater of Hades, survivor of the Battle of Manhattan, bane of Hyperion, slayer of the Clazmonion Sow, bane of Kronos, Savior of Olympus, returner of Hades's sword, returner of Hermes's caduceus, slayer of Stheno and Euryale-many times, carrier of Juno, member of the Fifth cohort, rescuer of Thanatos, returner of the golden eagle, slayer of Polybotes, Praetor of Rome, slayer of Otis and Ephialtes, survivor of Tartarus, bane of Giants, defier of Gaia." Percy was winded by the end of his speech. Annabeth nudged him. "Oh and legacy of Jupiter and Hades." Perseus looked confused at the names. Poseidon spluttered. How was his son, the son of Sally a legacy of his brothers. One of their Roman forms no less.

"He's done more than you." Theseus muttered to Hercules, who looked upset.

"Who is Juno and Jupiter? And what is a cohort and praetor and Rome?"

"Can we please answer after the introductions?" Jason asked. After a brief hesitation, Athena nodded. Leo shrugged.

"I am Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, counselor of Cabin Nine, fire wielder, one of the seven Heroes of Olympus, tamer of Festus, rescuer of Hera, builder and Supreme Captain of the Argo II, returner of _Athena Parthenos, _bane of giants, defier of Gaia." Piper snorted.

"Leo did a lot more than that! He fixed the Argo II more times than I can count, he came up with some pretty amazing plans, and he held our group together." Leo turned red. Nico, feeling sorry for Leo, introduced himself.

"I am Nico Di'Angelo, son of Hades, Ghost King, traveler of the Labyrinth, survivor of the Battle of Manhattan, returner of Hades' sword, Ambassador of Pluto, survivor of Tartarus, finder of the Doors of Death, returner of _Athena Parthenos,_ bane of Giants, and defier of Gaia."

"I am Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus-

Zeus' jaw dropped in a very unkingly fashion. "You aren't a tree anymore?" Thalia shook her head.

"Nope, but you'll have to wait to find out why. Now, back to what I was saying. Counselor- wait. Would I be the counselor or Jason?" The demigods thought for a moment.

"How about we be co-counselors since neither of us stay there?" Jason suggested. Thalia nodded.

"Sure. Anyway, co-counselor of Cabin One, Lieutenant of Artemis, once a pine tree, returner of Hades' sword, bearer of Sisyphus's curse, survivor of the Battle of Manhattan, slayer of many monsters, bane of Giants, defier of Gaia." Artemis and Zoe looked confused.

"Why isn't Zoe my lieutenant? She is the least likely to break her oath."Thalia thought for moment.

"She didn't break her oath. She just knew it was time she left. No more on that. My brother needs to introduce himself." Jason groaned. It was his turn.

"I am Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Champion of Juno, one of the seven Heroes of Olympus, child of Rome, consul to demigods, member of the Fifth Cohort, Praetor of Rome, slayer of the Trojan sea monster, bane of Krios, destroyer of Kronos's throne, survivor of the Battle of Othrys, co-counselor of Cabin One, bane of Midas, slayer of Enceladus, rescuer of Hera, stealer of Achelous' horn, the Horn of Plenty, bane of Otis and Ephialtes, returner of _Athena Parthenos,_ bane of Giants, defier of Gaia." Reyna grinned at him. Piper was over being jealous, she knew there was nothing between Jason and Reyna. Reyna looked up before announcing herself.

"Why are there Romans and Greeks mixing? This should not be happening!" Zeus demanded. Thalia rolled her eyes while Jason sighed."Well?"

Thalia snorted. "The future is jacked. Are you going to kill us now like you did to Sarah and Richard? You killed your own children because they _almost_ found out your secret!" Hera glared at Zeus.

"What is this about another child, dear husband?" She asked menacingly. Percy sighed and stood up.

"Can we please finish introducing ourselves, then have a interview? We can't answer too many questions since we are from the future." The gods nodded, and Reyna stood.

"I am Reyna Calvani, daughter of Bellona, child of Rome, Praetor of Rome, once apprentice to Circe, slayer of monsters, survivor of the Battle of Othrys, bane of Giants, defier of Gaia." Hazel quickly started her speech.

"I am Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, member of the Fifth Cohort, one of the seven Heroes of Olympus, bane of Alcyoneus, rescuer of Thanatos, returner of the golden eagle, returner of _Athena Parthenos_, bane of Giants, defier of Gaia." Frank looked around. He was the last one.

"I am Frank Zhang, son of Mars, legacy of Poseidon, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, one of the seven Heroes of Olympus, shape-shifter, liberator of Thanatos, returner of the golden eagle, bane of Alcyoneus, returner of _Athena Parthenos,_ bane of Giants, defier of Gaia."

"Okay. Sorry about that, but Lady Hemera told us to announce our full titles. Some of us may have forgotten things, but we may come across them. Now, about Rome. Rome became the new Western Civilization after Greece. The gods became Roman. Zeus to Jupiter, Hera to Juno, Poseidon to Neptune, Hades to Pluto, Athena to Minerva, and so on." She looked to Reyna for help.

"A cohort is a group of soldiers, usually around forty soldiers in our time. A praetor is a leader of a legion, two praetors per legion. The gods are stricter in Roman times. We also have more gods and goddesses. Take my mom, Bellona, she is a Roman only goddess. So is Lupa, the mother of Rome." Perseus looked troubled.

"So you're saying our age comes to an end?" Annabeth nodded. "

So does the Roman era."

"So why ARE the Greeks and Romans mixing?" Athena asked.

"We actually get along well. Like we said the future is messed up and we need every ally we can get." Annabeth told her mother. Zeus spoke up next.

"How do you know of Sarah and Richard?"

Percy glared at the god. "They were my grandparents. My real ones. Their daughter, Sally was only a few weeks old when you killed them. Then you had to knock her adoptive parents, who she thought was her real ones, out of the sky in a 'plane wreck'. Also thanks to you, and your brothers, I have the worst luck in demigod history. I have each of the Big Three is my blood, so I also have three broken Styx oaths. I don't blame you dad, but Jupiter and Hades should have let you know." Hades was getting impatient.

"So can we look at the war records?" He asked. Percy opened the box and groaned. The title of the first was Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The other demigods couldn't help it. They cracked up laughing. All the while the gods and heroes of old were watching with concerned expressions.

"Let's begin reading them Perseus." Zeus said.

"Yes, sir," both Perseus answered. They looked at each other. Percy smiled.

"How about everyone calls me Percy? That's what they do in my time period anyway." Everyone nodded. "What should we call the two Jasons?"

"We could call future Jason by his last name, Grace." Reyna offered. That was going to have to work until they thought of something else.

"Percy, then, begin reading." Percy opened to the first chapter and groaned again when he saw the title.

"**I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher"** He read. Annabeth could see some questions.

"If you have any questions about what something means or what it is wait until the end of the day and we will answer as many as possible."The people from the ancient times murmured assent.

"On with the book, my namesake!" Perseus cried.

**I hated this chapter. I hated making their titles. I honestly would not blame you if you did not read the titles. I have no idea what I was thinking when I started that. I know a ton of stuff was left out, but it's 4 am and I'm exhausted and can't sleep. Good night****. I had to retype most of this because someone (not me) forgot to save it when she went to close Word. More than once. Well, one time was because my computer restarted to do a 'cleaning' without letting me know. Technology hates me.**


	2. Chapter 2: Vaporizing Teachers

**Hello all. So sorry about last chapter. It was not a good one, that's for sure. I would thank everyone who reviewed, but the internet is not working while typing this and I probably will forget to come back and add them in, and my dear mother accidentally deleted every single one of my emails while trying to clear out my old phone. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own a single thing in bold, or any characters, or anything. **

**Chapter 2: I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher**

Percy was not excited to read books about him. He didn't want everyone to know his thoughts. _I am so dead when some of the gods hear my thoughts about them._"**I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher**". He began. Thalia snorted.

"Yeah, accidentally. Oops I swung my sword at your head, but I didn't mean to kill you!" She mocked in a high pitch voice. Percy glared at her.

"I do not sound like that." Thalia stuck out her tongue, and just as Percy was going to snap back, Zeus cleared his throat. "Fine. **Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**" Ares frowned.

"Why not?" Frank looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Because we almost die on a daily basis!"

"I repeat, why not?" Ares asked again.

Zeus groaned. "Just read the book." Percy complied.

"**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now, Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**"

"You would only be delaying the inevitable like that." Athena said.

"**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**"

"Good description of our lives," Theseus muttered.

"**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they**_** sense it too, and they'll come for you. **

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**"

"Dun dun dun!"

"Enough of the creepy sound effects Niccy." Hazel said while laughing at Nico's pout. Percy rolled his eyes at his 'younger' cousins.

"**My name is Percy Jackson. **

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid?**"

"Not just yes, but HADES YES!" Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico yelled. Frank and Hazel coughed to hide their laughter.

"Glad to know you have faith in me. I am not troubled." Percy adamantly said. "**Yeah. You could say that.**" Snorts filled the room. "Not one word."

"Read."

"**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. I know- it sounds like torture.**"

"Really Percy?" Annabeth asked.

"I meant the field trip in itself was good, the people who accompanied me made the trip torture." Percy hurried to explain. Annabeth nodded.

"I understand completely. Like the Arch."

"Wasn't my fault!" Percy decided to read before she could reply. "**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had high hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told us stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons**"

"Your _teacher_ sure did like Roman and Latin stuff. What about Greek stuff?" Jason Grace smirked. Thalia did the only thing that made sense to her. She punched him in the arm. "What was that for?"

"The Greek stuff is coming, little brother." She said. Perseus looked on at how his siblings interacted. He felt an odd longing to be a part of that. Before he could say anything, Percy continued to read.

"**So he was the only teacher that didn't put me to sleep.**"

Athena rolled her eyes at the same time as Annabeth. "Percy Jackson!" They chorused. Looking at each other, they started to laugh. "Great minds think alike!" Athena said.

"**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped for once I wasn't going to get in trouble.**

**Boy, was I wrong.**"

"So you were always in trouble then, little brother?" Theseus asked Percy. Percy grinned at the thought of having an older sibling.

"Never, big brother. I was always the one who did what they were told, was calm, and I _never_ broke the law." At the end of his statement, all the demigods from the future were laughing. Somehow or another, they had all heard of what happened on his first quest.

"**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that… Well, you get the idea.**"

Zeus looked concerned. "Are you sure that you are my legacy? I can see Hades and Poseidon, but maybe you have Hermes and I mixed up." In response, Percy summoned a small bolt of lightning and Zeus leaned back, defeated.

"**This trip I was determined to be good. **

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**"

"Who is the person that decided that peanut butter and ketchup would be a good combination? Seriously, that is just-ugh!" Piper shuddered.

Leo grinned, "Hey Grace, I dare you to eat one." Jason looked at him.

"You first."

"I dared you first!"

"Enough! You are here for a reason! Just read the book." Hera snapped. She was tired of these demigods.

"**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cries when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**"

Dionysus half-smiled. "Ah satyrs and their cheesy enchiladas. They can never get enough of them." Everyone turned and started him. He quickly harrumphed and made a wine magazine appear in his hands.

"Ah, Mr. D? Your magazine is upside down." Piper pointed out.

"I do not care Penelope Martin."

Thalia slowly turned away from the god. "Er, right. Anyway, Percy you description is so flattering."

"Wait until you show up Thals." Percy smirked. The heroes of old watched curiously.

"Why did you call Dionysus 'Mr. D'? Is he a teacher?" Orion asked. Those who had stayed at Camp Half-Blood looked at each other before erupting into laughter.

"Mr. D…a teacher…you're kidding!" Annabeth huffed out. When she managed to calm down, she explained a bit better. "Mr. D is more of a part-time counselor. He manages our camp." Percy thought that was enough explanation, so he started reading again, ignoring her glare.

"**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**"

"Melodramatic much, Perseus Jackson?" Hercules sneered. Percy, for once, did the grown up thing and ignored him, much to Hercules' dismay.

""**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

**Grover tires to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." **

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"**That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"**You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll be blamed if anything happens."**

"**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**"

"Please let that mean some freaking action!" Ares complained. Hera glared at him.

"Ares, don't interrupt the story!" She snapped. It's not that she cared for Poseidon's…child, but these books were about her family, and she cared for the legitimate part of it. She sniffed disdainfully at the thought of all of her family's illegitimate children right here in the room with her.

"Yes ma'am." Percy smirked at one of his least favorite gods being treated like a child. Laughing inside, he picked up reading again.

"**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues,**"

"Probably automatons." Annabeth stated. Leo and Hephaestus looked intrigued, but she mouthed _later_ to them.

"-**and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**"

"Much longer than that, Percy, much longer. I don't look it though, right?" Aphrodite said, almost carelessly.

Athena snorted. "So the Pretty Princess does have some sort of cluster of cells forming a tissue commonly known as the brain. However, wheat we don't know is how many cells there are. Pity."

"You think I'm pretty? By the way, I know what a brain is, thank you. It is something that you tend to overuse and thus you forget about you instinct and emotions." Athena was slack jawed by the end of Aphrodite's speech, as were several others. Annabeth nudged Percy to get him back on track.

"**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**"

Nico laughed. "Her evil look is nothing compared to Kr-uh…other people's evil look. Ah, carry on Percy." Everyone turned to stare at the child of Hades. The gods in confusion, the futures with a sharp glare, and the heroes of old were just plain lost.

"**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She came to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**"

Thalia smirked. "Close enough. You and Niccy, the devil spawns." Hercules looked at his sister, not hearing the teasing tone in her voice. _Maybe, just maybe I can get along with this sister. She knows her place, which is over the shrimp and dead boy._

"Love you to Thals." Nico grumbled.

"**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

**One time, after she's made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**"

"Way to not be obvious Grover." Annabeth said.

Reyna got an irritated look. "I still can't believe that satyrs and fauns are basically the same, but satyrs actually help out and fauns are beggars."

"Well at least the satyrs are teaching the fauns woodland magic and stuff to help out." Frank pointed out. Reyna gave a quick nod.

"**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned and said, "Will you **_**shut up**_**?"**

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. **

"**Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red.**"

Hazel looked at Percy with an odd expression. "Did you really just use the word totally like a preteen preppy girl? Like, OMG, that words it so, like, old. Like nobody even uses that word anymore. You must be cray cray." All the gods stared as if Hazel had grown a second head, which would have been less weird in their opinion. The demigods, minus the five from the past, were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. When Percy managed to get his breath back, he read on, still kind of giggling every now and then.

""**No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

The elder gods all groaned. That was not a good time to be a god. Leo looked confused. Hephaestus sighed. "Just ask us your question, son." All the gods were ready to answer the usual 'was it gross' or how did you survive' questions. Leo's took them by surprise.

"How did you become gods?" Leo noticed the odd looks his way. "I mean your parents were both Titans, but you are gods. Ares parents are both gods, but he's still a god. And like the Primordial's kids were Titans and Giants, why not more Primordials?" All the gods, Athena included were struck dumb. Athena began to mutter about the laws of conservation and something about a…punt square?

"What's a punt square Percy whispered to Annabeth. She looked confused before understanding hit her.

"It's called a Punnett Square. It's something scientists use to determine things about offspring. Like what they would look like and stuff."

""**Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because…"**

"**Well…" I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**"

Zeus growled. "Boy, he isn't a god." Percy nodded.

"Got that one right. He's much more violent and stronger." The gods stared at him while Annabeth hit him in the arm.

"Not too much!" she hissed to him. Percy gave her an apologetic look.

" "**God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

"**Titan," I corrected myself. "And…he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

"**Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. **

"**-and so there was a big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**"

"He calls a huge war where the earth is basically at war with itself and 'big fight'?" Apollo asked in disbelief. Artemis looked at her brother with the same look.

"You actually said something smart?" Apollo glared at her. Seeing a fight about to happen, the Wisdom goddess quietly signaled Percy to read.

"**Some snickers from the group.**

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life-**"

Everyone is the room looked affronted. This was their real life.

"**-Like it's going to say on our jobs applications 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"**And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"**Busted," Grover muttered.**

"**Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. **

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"**I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine which made him disgorge his five other children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to bit, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**"

"So let me tell you about barfing and slicing and then go eat lunch. Good luck, I hope you manage to keep your food down." Demeter said. Nico looked at her.

"What is your view point on cereal?"

"It's okay. Not as good as oatmeal. People these days are beginning to eat more, so I will try some." Nico grinned inside.

"I wouldn't do that. I heard they add some pretty nasty stuff to it." Demeter looked thoughtful. _One less crazy step-grandmother._

"**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. **

"**You must learn to the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. **

"**About the Titans?"**

"**About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

"**Oh."**

"**What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will only accept the best from you Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**"

"You call that hard?" Hercules sneered. Orion rolled his eyes and made faces behind Hercules' back.

"As Percy said, 'Will you _shut up_?'" Theseus asked slowly, like talking to a kid. Percy snorted at his brothers' antics, glad to finally have older siblings.

"No, I call battling Gaia herself hard." Percy said before covering his mouth. Annabeth glared, but not at Percy. Her gaze was directed at a certain son of Zeus.

"Zoe was wrong about you," she said while ignoring Zoe's glare and Hercules triumphant smile.

"Why thank you pretty one."

"You are way worse. She must have either under-exaggerated or something because if your head gets any bigger, we may have to deflate it some." Zoe's glare softened and she actually choked on laughter.

" **I mean, sure it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted "What-ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk to name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshiped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No- he didn't expect me to be **_**as good**_**; he expected me to be **_**better**_**. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts , much less spell them correctly.**

"Perseus, your grades are abysmal." Athena said. Percy didn't know what that a word was, but he figured it meant horrible or terrible.

"Not meaning to be rude, Lady Athena, but I have ADHD and dyslexia. It's hard for me to sit still and spell things. I am not very good in school. Oh, and please don't forget to avoid confusion that I am Percy." Athena considered this while Percy continued.

"**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**"

"What is going on with you two now?" Hera sighed. Percy smirked at Annabeth.

"Whatever it is, it has their togas in a twist." Annabeth snorted while everyone else looked lost. Percy decided to explain. "It will come up in this book." Everyone nodded and waited for Percy to start reading again. And waited. And waited. Finally Thalia had had enough.

"Hey Kelpo!" she yelled while snapping her fingers. Percy jumped. "Read."

"**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something-**"

"Not mine!" Hermes yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

"**-from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from **_**that**_** school- the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"**Detention?" Grover asked.**

"**Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean- I'm not a genius."**

Percy looked over at Thalia and Nico. "Not a word." They busted up laughing.

"Well, they haven't said a word," Perseus said cheekily. That got the heroes of old laughing too. Hercules grinned. Here was his chance to kick the demigod when he was down.

"Apparently nobody likes you." He sneered. Percy and Annabeth made eye contact and started laughing themselves.

"Yeah, Nobody loves me! Whoo-hoo!" Percy began to chant. "Nobody loves me! Nobody loves me!" Hercules looked miffed.

"But, besides Nobody, lots of people like Perce!" Thalia said. She had heard the story from the other two sometime after the war.

"**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment-**"

"Yeah, sure." Annabeth said, drawing out the words.

"**-to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought of my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump is a taxi and head home. She'd be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**"

"You care a lot for your mother," Hera said with a soft smile. Everyone's jaw dropped.

"Did…smile…Hera…demigod…" Perseus stuttered out. His stepmother was the number one stepmonster.

"The boy cares for his mother as all sons should. I am not a hateful person as you all believe." Hera sniffed. Eyes were rolled when she said this statement.

"**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**" Leo began to mutter to himself.

"Care to explain, son?" Hephaestus asked.

"There were some coffee shops in New Rome, and I was thinking if we added one to either camp we could have it completely motorized. The tables would automatically clean and rearrange themselves, automatons, and preprogrammed coffee settings. The works!" Leo talked a little more of his café from the future, but he lost most people after the word coffee. Hephaestus would nod and give his input every few minutes.

"**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends- I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists- and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

"**Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**"

"Where do you get these comparisons?"Piper asked in disbelief. Percy had a heck of an imagination.

"**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

"**-the water-"**

"**-like it grabbed her-"**

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"**

"Ugh she still does that!" Nico groaned. Hazel facepalmed. Alecto was never going to get over using honey in sentences. It had lasted over a decade. _Chaos help me!_

"Who is 'she'?" Hestia asked.

"Uh…I don't know…" Nico said.

"Yes you do." Poseidon said, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. Sorry." He glanced at his cousin for help, so Percy decided to spare him embarrassment.

"**I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

**That wasn't the right thing to say. **

"**Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. **

"**Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. **_**I**_** pushed her."**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

"**I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. **

"**But-"**

"**You-**_**will**_**-stay-here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

"**It's okay, man" I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

"**Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "**_**Now.**_**"**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**"

"You do not want to see the premium." Jason Grace muttered.

"Is that so Jay-Jay?" Reyna asked, teasing him with an old nickname.

"**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**"

"Are you slow or something? She is obviously a monster." Hercules sneered. Thalia smacked him.

"He had no idea of our world. How is he supposed to notice something that he doesn't even know exists?" Zoe snapped. She didn't like boys, but she'd fight against Hercules any day. _The enemy of my enemy is my friend._

"Supporting boys now, are you Zoe?" Hercules continued to dig his own grave. This is when Percy stepped in.

"Her decisions have nothing to do with you. Leave her alone." Percy growled menacingly.

"I do not need a boy to defend me!" Zoe snapped.

"Well, my bad. I'm just trying to make up for-" Percy suddenly stopped.

"Make up for what?" Zoe asked, dangerously quiet. Everyone was watching while holding their breath.

"Nothing. I am sorry for disagreeing with you, Lieutenant of Artemis." Percy said and slightly nodded his head. Zoe did a double take at his words. A boy being polite? This was so wrong!

"**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me standing at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pal, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**"

"Chiron! Please do something. A monster is after my son!" Poseidon half-yelled.

"Brother, you are talking to the…"Hades trailed off at the look on his brother's face.

"**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. **

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**"

"Of course."

"**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**"

"Exactly what she wanted." Orion muttered.

"**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. **

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…**"

"She most likely did." Hades murmured. He had guesses it was Alecto, his head Fury.

"You know of this monster?" Poseidon questioned.

"Yes, and I ask you not to hate me. This is in the future. Poseidon looked confused but nodded.

" "**You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. **

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you could get away with it?"**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**"

"Yes, I am aware of how naïve I was back then." Percy said to all the incredulous looks his way. Annabeth shook her head and slowly patted Percy on the head.

"**I said, "I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**"

"Great. Now both of my brothers are ganging up on my son." Poseidon said with a sideways glance at the two, who were trying to look innocent.

" "**We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on **_**Tom Sawyer**_** from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**"

"Perseus!" Athena scolded. Both Perseuses looked at her. "Ugh. Percy!"

"I have borrowed and read Annabeth's Greek version at camp." He quickly defended. Athena looked appeased.

" "**Well?" she demanded.**

"**Ma'am, I don't …" **

"**Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**"

Poseidon had been growing tenser during the past paragraph. Now he turned on Hades. "A Fury? Really now brother? I don't send any Cyclopes after your children."

"Dad, it wasn't because I was your son that Uncle sent the Fury after me. That is all I will say." Hades sent a grateful look toward Percy.

"**Things got even stranger. **

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"**What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword- Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**" Hercules wanted to say something, but found himself unable to talk. He looked at the gods and saw that Artemis, Apollo, and Hermes wouldn't look at him. "**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **_**Hisss!**_

"Nice one, cousin!" Ares commented. All the demigods who knew Percy did a double take. "What is it punks?"

"Did you just complement Percy Jackson?" Nico forced out. Ares nodded slowly.

"You and Percy have some…disagreements. As does Mars and Percy." Frank muttered almost inaudibly.

"**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. **

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

**I went back outside.**

**It started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain a museum map tented over his head, Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**"

"The Mist works fast, does it not?" Jason asked.

"That is how it is." Demeter answered.

"**I said, "Who?" **

"**Our **_**teacher**_**. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first-**"

"He is not a very good protector." Zeus declared. Thalia and Percy traded looks. Zeus still didn't know Grover was the satyr who was chosen to protect Thalia.

"He was a better searcher," Annabeth said.

"Was? Did he die daughter?" Athena asked. Annabeth almost hit herself on the forehead.

"Um…no. He's still very much alive, the search was just called off." Hermes' head snapped over to the demigods.

"You found my son?" He asked, not daring to believe it.

"Lord Hermes-" Percy began.

"Just Hermes."

"Hermes, it will be explained in the…third, no the fourth book. I promise." Hermes nodded.

"**-and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"**Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he's never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensils in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

"**Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"**The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**" Percy snapped the book shut.

"Is that the end of the chapter?" Piper asked.

"No, I just closed the book for no reason," replied Percy. Piper responded with a punch to the arm. She laughed when Percy winced. "Dude, your girlfriend is abusive." Percy said to 'Jay-Jay'.

Zeus cleared his throat. Everyone turned to him. "I have decided that we probably shouldn't continue with these books. They may not even be the truth." All the demigods began to protest. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light.

"Hello, Olympians," a kind feminine voice greeted. Hemera stepped forward with Ananke at her side. "I truly hope you will continue to read."

"Yes, my husband did not send them back for nothing," Ananke said, gesturing to the future half-bloods. "This event goes with Fate. It must be done. Do not try to skirt it again, Zeus. Good-bye." They left without another word. Zeus was still speechless. Finally he could talk.

"Change of plans, we will finish these books. They are of the utmost importance. I can't believe you people tried to get me to skip reading them." Zeus huffed. Thalia puffed out her cheeks and crossed her eyes. Everyone had to hold back laughter.

"So Father, who will read next?" Ares asked.

"So glad you volunteered to read, son." Zeus smirked. Frank snorted.

"You mean Ares can read?" he said, looking at Percy.

"Hey! I resent that!" Ares yelled.

"Just read, love. I want to see if I ever come up in these stories," said Aphrodite.

"Fine. **Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**," he read. "Socks. Very deadly."

**AN: So very sorry to all of you. Thank you for waiting. Prom was last weekend, and I was a co-leader of the Committee. Word of advice: don't be on prom committee. That's over with. Three weeks of college and little over that of high school. Next update will be quicker.**

**How was that? I can't tell if I put too much dialog in or not enough. It's my first chapter doing this, and I'm scared I messed up. Please tell me what you think. Thank you.**


	3. Chapter 3: Deadly Socks

**Heya people! How's life? Well that's great! ****Hasenpfeffer:**** Thanks for the help! It's very appreciated! As you can tell I'm going on trial and error. One question…where did you get your name from? Its unique and nifty. ****InsanityUnleashed:****I do plan on having Percy and Hercules fight it out, but not for a bit. Thank you! ****Guest:**** Thanks. I understand! ****timkaylor885:**** Thank you. ****sapphire-tears27: ****Here you are my dear. Thanks to all the favorites and follows. Sorry if I didn't mention you if you reviewed. Email hates me, but I fight it. **

**Disclaimer: If I could claim it, I would not need a disclaimer. Duh.**

**Bold: Property of Mr. Riordan**

Regular: My made up dialogue.

_Italic: Thoughts/telepathy_

**Onto the Story my good people!**

**Chapter 3: Deadly Socks**

"So Father, who will read next?" Ares asked.

"So glad you volunteered to read, son." Zeus smirked. Frank snorted.

"You mean Ares can read?" he said, looking at Percy.

"Hey! I resent that!" Ares yelled.

"Just read, love. I want to see if I ever come up in these stories," said Aphrodite.

"Fine."

**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**," he read. "Socks. Very deadly."

Thalia looked over at Percy and opened her mouth to comment, but Percy cut her off. "If you're going to make fun of each title, we are going to be here forever." Thalia glared then smirked.

"So, by admitting that I could make fun of each title and the books are from your view, you gave me permission to make fun of you!" She declared triumphantly.

"You have a sick, twisted sense of logic," said Percy.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly.**

**This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.**

"Don't even think of it Hermes!" Athena nearly shouted. "School needs to be taken seriously!" She had recognized the glint in her half-brother's eye, and she didn't like it. Said god only looked at her innocently.

"Wouldn't dream of it, dearie."

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"Well they were right." Frank muttered. Percy tried to punch him…key word is tried. Frank turned into a mouse at last second and Percy ended up punching Jason, who sent a bolt of lightning at Percy out of habit. Percy deflected the bolt, which hit Hercules, who wasn't paying attention. The room went silent as Hercules groaned and sat up. Percy couldn't help it, he started to laugh.

"He looks like they do on cartoons when they get electrocuted!" It was true. Hercules' hair was standing on end and his head was blackened. That got the other future demigods at least giggling. Orion started to laugh, and Theseus looked at him.

"You know what cartoons are?"

"No," came the reply.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"They make me laugh," he gestured to the laughing half-bloods. "And when anything happens to make Hercules look like a fool, I laugh." Theseus shrugged. _I can't deny that logic._

"Well, if you are done, I'll continue to read," Ares growled out.

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, and then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

**Something was going on. Something _had _happened at the museum.**

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room.**

"Really, brother? He may be my son, but he's also your descendent."

"I don't know why my future self is acting like that. It's almost as if I were throwing a fit." Zeus retorted. "But I don't throw fits, so…read on." Hades snorted at Zeus' pride.

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Annabeth smacked Percy's head. "Really?" Percy just shrugged.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends.**

**I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

"It means old drunk, old drunkard, whichever." Athena explained. Percy looked over at Mr. D.

"So it describes Dionysus," Percy reasoned.

"Don't say stuff like that! He doesn't hate you yet!" Annabeth snapped.

"Far too late for that, Arabell. Young Perry has already irritated me." Mr. D said over his magazine. "However, I shall wait and see what I should do to the brat."

Hercules grinned. Here was a way to get in a god's good graces and get back at Percy. "Lord Dionysus, I could…take care of the problem. One such as yourself should not be bothered by such a small nuisance." He made sure to put just the amount of sweetness and worship in his voice.

"Heather, if I need help I will ask for it. Do you suggest you are better than an Olympian god? That you are more qualified than I?" Hercules quickly shook his head. "Good. Glad we understand each other."

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties..**

**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,**

**even if he was a little strange.**

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

"At least you tried," Hazel said.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the _Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology _across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron**

"I love him." All the demigods chorused.

**and Charon,**

"He is always wanting less hours, better pay, health care. He is immortal! He doesn't even need health care, but does that stop him from demanding it? No!" Hades continued to mutter about Charon.

**or Polydictes**

"I still don't like that man. He will never be good enough for my mother. Then he had to go and demand that I bring him Medusa's head!" Perseus ranted. Everyone looked at him.

Leo nodded seriously. "I'm sensing some built up frustration. Just let it out. Clear the air."

**and Polydeuces.**

"Oh I remember my good friend Polydeuces! He was an Argonaut. He fought off an evil king to help us continue our quest. He was so upset when his poor brother Castor was killed." Older Jason said. Perseus patted his back.

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

"Well now that your Roman, it should be easy!" Reyna said.

"Great deduction, Rey," came Percy's sarcastic reply.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. _I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson._**

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"He knew you always did your best," Annabeth murmured to Percy.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said,**

**_"..._ worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

Every demigod looked guilty. They would have done the same thing.

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the_school_! Now that we know for sure, and _they _know too—"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead line— _"_**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he _saw _her..."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"Really, Perce? Why did you drop the stupid thing?" Thalia asked.

"Books aren't stupid!" Annabeth shot back.

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are-"

"Enough!" Zeus rubbed his temples. _Demigods…ugh._

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow _clop-clop-clop, _like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

"So in reality, only a couple of minutes?" Nico asked. Percy just rolled his eyes in response.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful."**

"That was mean. That face can never look awful," Aphrodite said. "Right, Annabeth?"

"I don't know. You should have seen the look on his face when the store was out of blue jelly beans." Annabeth countered. Percy groaned.

"It was one time! I swear a monster was behind it. They go out of their way to make me mad. Thanks dad and uncle/great-grandpas for that." After that statement, Leo suddenly shot up.

"That's what wrong with you! You are the product of major inbreeding!" All the gods groaned.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Dude, you realize that your dad's mom and dad are brother and sister? And their mom and dad were siblings as well. And their parents. Gods have no DNA so therefore we can't be inbred." Everyone was looking oddly at Percy. "What?"

"You…smart…seaweed…" Annabeth stuttered out.

"Hey! Sons of Poseidon can be smart!" Theseus shouted in indignation.

"Yeah, what he said!" Orion agreed. Theseus raised an eyebrow at his half brother.

"Like I said, we CAN be smart. We all aren't."

"How in Hades did we get this far off topic?" Piper asked.

"I have no idea." Hades said and then he groaned, "and for the love of Olympus, quit using my name as a curse word!"

**He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"You always are Percy. It comes with being one of us." Perseus said.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

" ἰδιώτης. Chiron, you had to know he wouldn't take it like you meant it." Poseidon muttered. His children, while fiercely loyal, also had a habit to be occasionally somewhat…not exactly pessimistic, but something close. Yes, they did for the most part try to see the glass half full, but sometimes the glass was empty.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

"Oh dear. Did he have to say it in front of the class?" Hestia asked no one in particular.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

"He's not even normal by demigod standards." Frank said. "He's a descendent of the Big Three. He's a weirdo that's for sure."

"Coming from the guy who turns into elephants by choice." Percy snorted.

"I object! Elephants are cool!"

Leo looked scandalized. "Nothing is as cool as a dragon!"

"I can turn into a dragon, too." Leo looked like a child on Christmas.

"Okay, sorry Perce, my man, but Zhangy-boy here is way cooler than you. When you can turn into a dragon, come talk to me."

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy—"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were _rich _juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"So you admit you are a nobody, sea spawn?" Hercules taunted. Percy sighed. That man-he barely made that qualification- was getting on his last nerve.

"Yes. I am a Nobody. There are two other Nobodies in the world, and I am glad to share a name with them. One of them happens to be the love of my life."

"So you love nobody?" Theseus asked his little brother. Hey this confused even Athena, so he had a right to not know.

"Yeah, but you'll know her second name next book." Percy explained.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"Creeper."

"Stalker."

"Weirdo."

"Psycho."

"Stranger danger!" Everyone looked at Leo.

"Um, Leo? How can Grover be a stranger is they shared a dorm room for the past several months?" Frank asked slowly.

"Oh, right. Hey! I said you were cooler than Percy. You are supposed to stick up for me!"

"Um, right…sorry?"

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

"Here comes impulsive Percy, ladies and gentlemen! He features no filter from his mouth to his brain! What a sight!" Thalia said in her best announcer's voice.

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"That scared the satyr." Dionysus said as he laid down the third wine magazine of the day. He then proceeded to pull a game out of his pocket. "What? It's the first hand-held Pac-Man game!" Most decided to ignore the strange god in favor of the story.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much _did _you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

"Oh not much he said. Don't worry he said." Piper quoted the meme she had seen several times on the internet.

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"**

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script,**

Here the demigods began to mutter about stupid reading disorders while Frank smirked at them. "You have all the luck, Zhang." Annabeth muttered. _What I wouldn't give to be able to read without getting a headache bigger than Hercules' ego._

_Daughter, maybe I could try and bless you to have an easier time reading._

_Mom?_

_What other goddess could bless you with knowledge? Aphrodite perhaps?_

_Right. Well, I'm not used to this whole mind talk thing and I really need to listen to the story so…_

_Of course!_

**which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

**_Grover Underwood_**

**_Keeper_**

**_Half-Blood Hill_**

**_Long Island, New York_**

**_(800)_ _009-0009_**

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

"Nope, only a four story farmhouse, a bunch of cabins, the works!" Leo said.

**He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"Uh, burn!" Apollo shouted.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

"You see, Grover is a much better searcher than protector. He was made to search, and he just doesn't have the build or personality to be a protector." Annabeth explained.

"Now Gleeson Hedge, on the other hand. All we would have to do is put him in a box and deliver him to enemies and they would be destroyed." Piper sniggered at Jason's description of the crazy goat.

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended _me._**

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

"Just your psychotic family." Reyna reasoned.

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

**The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

"What I don't get is why you'd have to get off if he was working on the engine." Leo mutteres. "It's not like he was like "Excuse me miss, but I need to get to the spark plugs, which happen to be below your chair" or anything."

"Maybe it was a safety precaution, my boy," said Hephaestus. Leo looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded.

"Okay. I'll go for it."

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

Demeter perked up. That is what more people needed. Nico noticed her reaction. _Time to continue with plan 'Future Sane Demeter'_. "You know, Lady Demeter, cereal companies are trying to replace breakfast fruit? They say cereal is better for you." Demeter looked outraged.

"I want to try some and see what the hype is all about. It's not like they've gone and added chocolate or marshmallows to replace fruit." Nico barely held back from sniggering.

"Okay, some of the healthiest cereals are Lucky Charms, Count Chocula, and Chocolaty Pebbles."

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice_._There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"Oh, no. Oh dear sweet Rhea, please not them." Poseidon begged under his breath.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

"Percy, I swear on the Styx, if this is what I think it is-"Annabeth started.

"Please don't finish saying something that could end badly. I love you." Percy said, trying to calm his girlfriend down.

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"How are you able to find humor at a time like that?" Hermes asked. Percy shrugged.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You think that's bad timing, you should have heard all of the jokes while we were down in Tartarus. Oops."

"Why were you and my brother down in Tartarus?" Orion asked slowly. Annabeth stuttered a faint answer. She then motioned for Ares to read.

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

"If the boy is meant to see it, there is no avoiding Fate." Hades said solemnly. The future demigods looked at each other. That is exactly what they were doing, avoiding Fate, but with Fate's help.

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that _snip _across four lanes of traffic**

Poseidon was about to panic, when he realized his son _from the future_ was sitting right there. He had no reason to freak out. Zeus saw this change and questioned it. "Why should I worry when it's obvious my son lives through all of this?**.**Well, of course I will worry some, but not to the point of having the waters break out in massive storms. Now, if this was happening now, that is a completely different puddle."

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

Percy grinned. "Neither. They are for the charity known as Homeless Blue Hyperboreans Without Socks also known as HBHWS."

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Annabeth asked.

"Challenge accepted."

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

"Everyone who liked Percy groaned at this point. The kid didn't even know he was a demigod and he couldn't catch a break.

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Your life story."

"Apollo!" Artemis shouted. Apollo looked over innocently.

"I only spoke the truth dear sister. Is that not my job? To speak the truth?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Oh go write a haiku."

"Ooh. I've never written one before. Maybe I should look into that." The Greek demigods looked panicked at each other. That could not happen!

"Lord Apollo, haikus have been around for centuries. You don't want to be behind the times do you?" Thalia asked him.

"Hm. No, better not."

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

"You may not be book smart, but you have great instincts and common sense. It will save lives one day." Athena stated matter-of-factly.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"Let. It. Go." Thalia and Annabeth growled at the same time.

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

"How do you explain that one to someone who thinks the Fates are still just myths?" Hazel asked quietly. Nobody answered.

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"Way to make the kid feel better." Jason of the past muttered. Jason Grace looked over at his namesake and older brothers. He really wanted to talk to them. He could see Percy wanted the same thing. They had a quick silent conversation and agreed.

"Um, Lord Zeus?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Percy? What do you need?"

"Well, I was wondering I we could take a break from reading for a bit? I understand we have only read like two chapters, but we had introductions before that. Every one of us is about to go crazy from sitting so long." He explained in a rush.

"I believe that will be alright. In the future, we will read more chapters before we take a break. Okay! Everyone! Go let off some energy and return within the hour. If you are late, you will be locked out of the reading." With that the demigods began to make their way outside, breaking off into smaller groups.

**Okay another chapter come and gone. Sorry for any and all spelling a grammar mistakes. How was this one? I can't fix it if you don't tell me! I will be doing reunions next chapter, but I already have the next reading chapter done, well almost, so look for a two chapter update next time! I have five days of school left and then its summer! Ciao!**

**PS: The stupid uploader ate the bold print and I had to go back and fix it! Gah, technology!**


	4. Chapter 4: Family Matters

**Okay, here we are again! Since I had no reviews, I'll thank all my favorites and follows. Fun Fact: I am typing this at our garage sale, and people watching has me laughing in my head, so this may be a funny chapter, just depends on how many people I will have to put up with.**

**Disclaimer: Me nolo owno. I will own this when turtles can do back flips.**

**Chapter 4: Family Matters**

"I believe that will be alright. In the future, we will read more chapters before we take a break. Okay! Everyone! Go let off some energy and return within the hour. If you are late, you will be locked out of the reading." With that the demigods began to make their way outside, breaking off into smaller groups.

Even though they split up, they all still went to the gardens. Demeter must have been in a good mood, since all the flowers were at the height of their bloom. Theseus and Orion made their way to Percy, wanting to know their younger brother. "Hello, Perseus." Orion said, somewhat nervously. _What if our brother hates us or doesn't want to know us?_

"I'm not going to talk to you if you're going to be like that." Percy said. Both of his brothers' excitement dropped. "My name is Percy. I'm your brother, so there's no need to be so formal." He finished with a grin.

"Well said, brother!" Orion agreed. Theseus rolled his eyes.

"Could we try to be brothers? Me, you, and this idiot over here?" Orion was nodding along until that last part.

"Hey!"

Theseus sniggered. "It's the truth." The brothers made their way over to the fountain and continued to bond. "So what's with you and that daughter of Athena, Annabeth, right?"

"You'll see," muttered a bright red Percy.

"I hate that answer." Orion whined.

"Get used to it." As the sons of Poseidon bonded, so did the children of Zeus and Jupiter, except for Hercules. Jason at approached Perseus and Thalia had followed.

"So you are our way older brother." Jason Grace started. Silence followed. He turned to Thalia for help.

"As you know we are Thalia and Jason Grace. We know you are Perseus. The three of us make up the Humble-ish Children of Zeus/Jupiter Club. Hercules application was denied. Yours, however made it through the screening. So welcome to our club." As she finished, Thalia gave a slight bow to Perseus.

"Is that so? The 'Greatest Hero of All Time' didn't get in? What is wrong with the world?" Perseus shouted the last part, making many heads turn in his direction. He gave a half smile and waved. "Uh, hi," he said brightly.

Hercules had seen the brats of the God of Puddles getting along great. He hoped his siblings were smart enough to realize that being friends with them was a one track way to being a loser. He spotted the brother and sister pair walking with Perseus towards the Fish Brains. He walked over to intercept them before they did something they regretted. "What do you think you're doing?" He hissed.

The dark headed girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, gee. I think we were headed to talk to our friends." She said, gesturing to the sons of Poseidon and Annabeth, who had joined Percy.

"Those are your friends? Really? Let me tell you something. You are children of Zeus. You need to have friends that are good for you. People expect you to have certain allies. You don't want to get caught up in the wrong sort."

"I think we can tell who the wrong sort is for ourself." Jason Grace said coolly.

"Those brats are just using you!" Hercules voiced gradually raised until he was yelling. "Name one thing that the shrimp has done for you!"

Thalia leveled her special glared she had learned from Artemis at Hercules. "Well, _brother_, Perseus Jackson has saved me from being a tree, saved my life on numerous occasions, became the child of the prophecy, battled Kronos, fought Gaia, saved my life again by taking on a giant who was about to overwhelm me, and been the best big brother ever. That doesn't mean I don't love you Jay-Jay."

Jason Grace smiled at his sister. "Love you too, Thals. Now, let's see. What has Percy done for me? More than you know. I can't even count. But you know what? We are family, and family doesn't do stuff for each other because we have to or so we can be owed something. We do it because we want to and love each other. Yes we may get close to killing each other, but we stand by each other."

Perseus shrugged. "I don't know the kid, but he's named after me and our younger siblings respect him, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I won't judge him since he has not judged me."

"Well those were beautiful and inspiring speeches and I feel like puking. Fine go be with the losers. I don't give a Hades. You all will get what's coming to you." Hercules spat and whirled around. He stalked out of the gardens.

"Woah. Someone has his panties in a bunch," muttered Reyna. This earned some snickers from the demigods who had overheard the conversation, which was all of them. Percy and his entourage walked over.

"Um, Jason, Thalia? I didn't really do that much stuff for you. I also had a ton of help and-"

"Kelp Head, for once in your life quit being modest. Accept the compliments. Realize that more people owe you their lives than you could count." Thalia said with a light glare at Percy, who turned red. Theseus and Orion grinned at their brother, while Perseus was glad that Thalia was a better person than Hercules. _Like that is hard. Maybe I shouldn't compare my new favorite sister with that idiot._

The demigods all gathered together in the middle of the garden. They were bored but they couldn't sit still. "So, what do y'all want to do?" Piper asked. Everyone shrugged. "Someone please suggest something to do." Piper said, this time with a bit of Charmspeak. _Oh yeah, I went there. _She thought to herself.

"We could play tag."

"Hide-and-go-seek!"

"Ninja."

"We could take a nap." Everyone turned to look at Nico. "What? I'm kind of tired!"

"Sorry, us kids who graduated kindergarten don't have naptime anymore," Frank said. Nico turned red and muttered something about escaping souls and midnight breakouts.

"Duck, duck, goose! The best game ever!" Jason Grace shouted over everyone.

"But I wanted to play Ninja, demigod style…"Leo whined. "Please please please." Annabeth rolled her eyes. _Someone has to take charge or we will spend our entire hour arguing._

"Leo, stop your whining. We can play both, but we will start with duck, duck, goose." Jason from the Argo, Perseus, Orion, and Theseus all looked confused. They had never heard of this game. Who played a game with birds and a goose at that? Did they race them? Annabeth caught on to their confusion and decided to save them a headache and explain. "In this game we will all sit in a circle. One person is 'it' and will walk around the circle saying 'duck' while patting each person on the head. When 'it' says 'goose' the person who was patted gets up and chases the person around the circle. If 'it' beats the 'goose' back to the empty spot, the 'goose' becomes 'it', or the 'goose' could tag 'it' and then 'it' must go again. Got it?" They just nodded their heads, still a little confused. Percy sighed.

"We sit in a circle while one person calls people duck or goose. If you are a goose, you chase the person around the circle trying to touch them. If you tag them you sit back down. If you do what the person before you did." This time they grinned.

Annabeth grumbled, "That's what I said," under her breath. Percy came over and kissed her forehead.

"Ann, we aren't children of Athena. The dumber you say it the faster we get it."

"Are the love birds going to play?" Jason Grace yelled. The two walked over and sat down by each other. The demigods spent the next forty-five minutes playing the childish game, and loved every minute of it. All of a sudden Reyna jumped up.

"We are going to be late! Come on, hurry!" A quick glance at a watch showed that the demigods had less than a minute to get back to the throne room. They took off running into the building. There wwere some minor gods and goddesses in the hallway, and gave the group dirty looks for sprinting inside. They got to the throne room doors and heard Zeus and the others talking. Throwing the doors open, they walked in right as time expired.

"Cutting it close, half-bloods," Hades observed. "Now, shall we-"

"Do not presume to make orders in my place, brother." Zeus snapped. "Begin reading… Artemis." Said goddess sighed and grabbed the book.

"Must we read about a boy losing his pants?" Artemis asked. All the gods looked at her with quizzical expressions. "It's the name of the title!" She explained. Zeus made a continue gesture with his hand. Artemis sighed in resignation.

**Since I am posting two chapters, maybe three depending on circumstances, I'm not putting anything in this note. Ciao!**


	5. Chapter 5: Pantless

**Hello! Here is the second of two chapters I promised. I may even get three up, who knows? I am not one who sets an update schedule just because I have a very busy life and I don't want to make any promises I can't keep. As I said last chapter, I didn't have any reviews, but I'm not one who begs for attention. I'm just writing this to keep my over active brain, thoughts, imagination, etc. at bay. So thanks again to the favorites and follows. **

**Chapter 5: Pantless **

"Must we read about a boy losing his pants?" Artemis asked. All the gods looked at her with quizzical expressions. "It's the name of the title!" She explained. Zeus made a continue gesture with his hand. Artemis sighed in resignation.

"**Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants**,"

"I swear I'm just reading the book." Artemis said quickly.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"That wasn't the smart thing to do, Seaweed. Granted he was freaking you out, but still." Annabeth chastised Percy, who had the decency to look ashamed.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

Piper grimaced "Yeah, that would creep me out, as well, but dumping him may have cost you your life."

"Okay guys. I get it. I shouldn't have left Grover. Need I remind you that this has happened to me already?" Percy demanded. Seriously, they were going to scold him on something he did when he was twelve?

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom.**

**Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"Everyone loves Sally! She even lets us use her apartment as a safe house sometimes." Nico grinned. He considered Sally to be his adopted mom.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,**

"Duh. She has me for a son." Percy said with fake pompousness. Annabeth quickly smacked Percy on the head. "Anna, you're going to give me brain damage!" She hit him again, harder.

"You can't damage something that wasn't there in the first place," she smirked. This brought many laughs and one pout.

**which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

"Isn't that the truth." Thalia said while looking over at her best friends. Annabeth and Percy didn't deserve to fall into Tartarus, but they did anyway.

"That or she has two broken Styx oaths running in her blood." Percy mumbled, though loud enough for everyone to hear.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash**

"Adoptive parents. Her real ones were murdered by our favorite King of Gods! Give it up for Lord Zeus!" This made several gods and goddesses glared at the King. They could stand a lot of things, but they would not condone murder.

"Why would you kill her parents?" Demanded Hera, who feared her husband had cheated on her again, for good reason, too.

"One was Roman the other was Greek." Zeus said simply. Percy let it slide, for now.

**when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist,**

"A good career, but it can get stressful. Writer's block is absolutely horrid." Athena said shuddering.

**so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

"The poor dear," murmured Hestia.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because _it _makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"Is it possible to be lost in yourself?" Hazel asked.

"Quite possible, daughter of Pluto. It happens more than you think. Most never realize it until it's too late." Hera replied.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

Thalia laughed. "No way were you easy. You were the Adams Family, the Brady Bunch, and Rugrats all rolled into one person."

"How do you know? You never met me until we were older."

"Your mom tells some great stories about her little Percy-bear and his stuffed fish, Swimmy." Percy turned beet red and hid his face. "And other stories about-"

"Artemis, please, I'm begging you, please continue reading." Percy got down on his knees in front of said goddess.

"Fine." In truth, she was impressed that the boy was humble enough to beg…even if she did want to see him embaressed.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him,**

"Wonderful. Something tells me I'm going to love this," grumbled Poseidon.

**then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth.**

"It is the truth!" Apollo stood up and declared, only to dodge an arrow.

"Sit down and let me read!"

"Sure thing, little sis."

"Gah!"

**The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.**

"Example of what exactly, Perseus Jackson?" Thalia was ticked. No one had ever told her of this, and obviously Annabeth knew.

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"Hello, Gabe! Yes, school was great. No, I'm ready for summer. Sure I'd love to go walk outside with you!" Orion said sarcastically. Theseus snorted.

"Percy! Glad you made it back safe! Hope life has treated you well. Here's some money! Go buy yourself a welcome back present." Theseus had taken over Orion's idea. Orion froze.

"Sorry, Thes, but I perform solo." Both brothers crack up at the same time. Percy just grinned, he loved his brothers. Then Orion suddenly turned serious. "Why was he asking you for money?"

"Uh, no reason." Percy said, way too quickly. Thalia didn't like the sound of that.

**That was it. No _Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?_**

"Is the poor baby being mistreated?" Hercules mocked.

"Hercules," Perseus sighed, "You may be my brother in blood, but please, for the sake of everyone with ears _shut the Hades up!"_

"I'll 'shut the Hades up' whenever I feel like it!" Hercules snapped back.

"Don't use my name as a curse again, half-blood." Hades nearly snarled at his least favorite nephew. Hercules jaw dropped. He point to Perseus.

"What about him? He used your name."

"I rather like him. Plus he was using it to insult you, so, I gave him a pass."

"BOYS! I'm trying to read a book here!" Artemis yelled.

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

"Not quite." Aphrodite said as she shuddered at the thought of being married to him. Hephaestus at least was better looking than that.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course.**

"Of course! We can't live without beer or cigars!" Piper exclaimed.

**Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds.**

"That…that…" Thalia couldn't speak coherently.

"Bastard?"

"Slob?"

"Beast?"

"Son of a-"

"Leo Valdez, do not finish that statement!" Piper scolded.

"I was going to say buck. Son of a buck. Sheesh."

**He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"That would be called abuse." Hestia snapped. Everyone looked at her incredulously. The sanest, calmest of the gods had lost her temper.

"Um…he didn't abuse me." Percy said. Apollo merely looked over at Percy, but he didn't say anything.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound,**

"We could turn him into a dog!" Hermes said with an evil smirk.

"Why should we insult dogs? I rather like them." Reyna asked, thinking of her metal greyhounds. No one answered.

**which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

Athena gasped. _If that's the reason…_

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

The central fire flared. "You. Are. Wrong! Percy is a child! He should be getting money from you, not vice versa! Eddie if you agree with him, I will find you!"

"Easy Hestia. You are never like this. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing. Continue." Nobody wanted to question an angry fire goddess, so they did as told.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy.**

**"Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"Thank you, Eddie!" Apollo shouted.

**"Am I _right_?_" _Gabe repeated.**

"NO!" Most of the room shouted.

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels.**

Ares gave a sarcastic laugh. "Way to have a backbone."

**The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

The girls all looked disgusted.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"Count on it." Hermes and Dionysus said at the same time. When looks were sent to the wine god, he shrugged.

"No one is allowed to make their lives more miserable than me."

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

"He may not be the smartest, but he's smarter than you!" Athena defended the Sea Spawn.

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

"Home is where your family and friends are. It's where the heart is," Hestia said softly. She was under control now.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

"You really want to go there?" Perseus asked, raising an eyebrow.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons. Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room.**

"The boy cares for his mother. That is how a family _should_ be." Hera stated with a look at Hephaestus and Ares.

"The mother also cares for the boy. That is how a _mother_ should be. She shouldn't throw him down a mountain because he was different." Hephaestus shot back.

Ares nodded before adding, "Or tell her son that she is disappointed on how he turned out."

"Well, the boy is loving, handsome, loyal, and brave, while you Hephaestus are ugly, horrid, and hateful. Ares, you are egotistic, stupid, and just ugh!" Hera said this like it explained why she treated them like she did.

Percy was ticked. He still wasn't happy with Hera about the kidnapping thing, or trying to kill Annabeth. "Or you are just a horrible mother who tries to be perfect, but never reaches it. I think you are jealous because all of Zeus' better children in your eyes came from other women besides you. Look at Athena, smart and pretty, or the twins. You should try and help your sons instead of pushing them away. Maybe they aren't the mistakes, maybe you are." Most of the people in the room were either sniggering or trying to hide it at the end of Percy's speech.

"You dare accuse me of-"

"Yes I dare! You stole eight months from me to save your precious family, yet you curse at them for being imperfect, or hate them because they are a sign that Zeus had kids with other women. Don't even get started on how you hate that they all have kids outside of marriage. You could easily claim more than one to be your champion if you want someone to represent you. If they didn't have demigods, who would come behind you and clean up your mess and defend the Olympians?" Percy was about to continue, but Annabeth hit him on the arm.

"Seaweed Brain, shut up. For one, you almost gave everything away. For two, I think you fried Hera's brain. She hasn't said a word for a while now." Sure enough the goddess of marriage was staring at Percy with her mouth slightly open. Artemis was in awe. Her stepmother never would shut up about how Artemis and Apollo shouldn't be here since they weren't born in wedlock. _Maybe I should just read…_

**Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

**I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"That woman must have the patience of a saint," Hestia announced.

Hades grinned. "Or your patience dear sister. You do manage to put up with all of us, especially my brothers and I." Hestia grinned, she loved her family, but she wanted them to get along better.

Percy, however, looked thoughtful. "I wonder where mom got her patience. She had Jupiter and Hades for grandparents and demigods for parents." Everyone shrugged.

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"Man, can I please borrow your mom for a while? She's freaking awesome!" Leo shouted.

"Um, no. Don't worry though, she's like the Camp Mom. She takes care of any demigod who needs help." Poseidon grinned at his sons words. That was the Sally he fell in love with.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

"Awe, was wittle Pwercy okay? He wasn't naughty was he?" Thalia baby talked. She ended up getting shocked by lightning. It didn't hurt (why would it? She's a daughter of Zeus) but felt more like what you would get in a pillow fight. You knew you were hit, but not injured. "What was that for?"

"Awe, wittle Thals was being mean! Big, bad Pwercy got her back." The future demigods laughed at the little performance, while everyone else was wondering if they should trust these apparently unstable people.

"If I may ask, how did you shock her with lightning?" Zeus asked Percy.

"Easy. When I discovered I was your legacy you unlocked my powers. Can we keep reading please." Zeus looked miffed that he didn't get to question him futher.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"**

"I can give her something to…add to the bean dip." Hermes said with only a hit on maliciousness.

**I gritted my teeth.**

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"I offered, but she declined," Poseidon said slowly. "She knew I was a god."

"It is commendable for her to make life as normal as possible for her child and say no to living life with a god." Athena sounded impresses at Sally's sacrifice.

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself.**

"Either he's a good liar, or really gullible," Hermes remarked.

"Good liar," Percy said at the same time Nico said, "Really gullible."

Annabeth and Thalia looked at each other before saying "Both!" together.

**I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

Demeter shook her head. "Poor Nancy. Just so misunderstood."

"I don't feel any pity for her."

"You don't have a heart, Hades."

**Until that trip to the museum ...**

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.'**

"She was clear sighted. She would have helped you. Not that you knew that…" Frank trailed off. Percy had given him and the other Romans a brief rundown of his life before. They had also shared tons of stories on the Argo II.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

"I love Montauk." Percy and Poseidon said at the same time. They looked at each other before shrugging.

**"Three nights—same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

"Hallelujah! You're getting away from Gabe!" Hazel cheered, and everyone joined in.

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

"Yeah, I call B.S. on that." Leo said.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"That is a hard choice. Get away from the beast, or punch him in the trachea. Eeny meeny miny moe…" Apollo drifted off when he noticed there was more than one silver arrow pointing at him. Both Zoe and Artemis were glaring at him.

"Let milady read the chapter." Zoe threatened. Apollo nodded mutely.

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"No way. No one on their right mind would want to be away from you." Surprisingly it was Aphrodite who said this.

Piper grinned. "Good thing both Percy and Sally are right handed, that means they use the left side of their brains." Athena grinned. _Maybe not all of Aphrodite's children were Air Heads._

"Beauty Queen has brains!"

"Shut it, Leo."

"Shutting."

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"He will, young demigod. He will." Apollo said as he shined an arrow.

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

"Wow, she is definitely a keeper, Uncle." Hermes grinned.

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

"Really now!" Demeter shouted. It's not that she cared about the clothes, it was just the concept of the idea.

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"That was made possible by him in the first place," Dionysus muttered. _Why do I care again?_

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

"Do it! Do it! Just one time! Please!" Everyone chanted.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

"Because she cares for her son and is willing to do anything to help him." Hera said softly. These books were making her reconsider some of her choices.

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

Hades rolled his eyes. "None whatsoever, Gaby." Sarcasm dripped from the words.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

"How dense can you get?" Reyna asked no one in particular.

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

"Forgotten?"

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. ****But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

"About freaking time!" All the sons of Poseidon shouted.

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.**

"Gods," Jason Grace groaned. "He needs to get his priorities straight."

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"Like he'd be the one driving." Perseus spoke to nobody in particular.

**Like I'd be the one driving.**

Both of the Perseus grinned. Great mind think alike.

**I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

"Dad? Oh father dearest? Do you love your children?" Orion asked.

"Depends."

"Can you please sic some seagulls on Gabe?" Poseidon grinned and nodded. He opened his mouth to reply only to be interrupted by his youngest brother.

"Hold on Poseidon," Zeus began. "You may only do that as long as I can send my birds as well." Both of the gods got a creepy, evil grin that had most people shuddering.

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair case as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

Hephaestus simply said, "Powerful."

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

"Good idea." Hazel agreed.

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets,**

Annabeth and Athena shuddered at the mention of spiders.

**and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

"Love that place," both Poseidon and Percy said again. This time neither one looked at the other.

**I loved the place.**

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

"Poseidon can be romantic?" Aphrodite asked before looking at the god as if she was just seeing him.

"May I remind you, dear, that you are married?" Hera asked.

"Like that has stopped her before." Hephaestus muttered darkly, making Aphrodite feel slightly guilty.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

"Okay, a granddaughter of the gods of the sky and underworld has a connection to the sea. Is anyone else wondering how that happened? Anyone at all?" Leo asked.

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"I was wondering if you were going to explain it." Annabeth said to Percy. He laughed.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"You have a streak like her." Athena corrected. "She's older and you mother, thus passes the trait to you."

"Could you use Punt Squares to figure whether I would receive the trait or not?"Percy asked, trying to sound semi-smart.

"He means a Punnet Square mom." Annabeth explained.

"No, I don't think so." Athena concluded.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

"I will bless this woman to help with her dream."

"Thank you Lady Athena."

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father.**

"How precious. He had to work up nerve to ask his mom a question." Hercules sneered. Zoe snapped.

"He was feeling compassion, something you never felt!"

"Shut up. I do know compassion. I also know how to use a girl's feelings to get what I want, or do you need a reminder, pretty one? I do get lonely at night some-" That was as far as he got, because right then, he felt the cold bite of metal on the back of his neck.

"Hercules, you have overstepped the boundaries. Leave the huntress alone." Percy growled.

"Who's going to make me? You?"Hercules laughed, although rather fake seeing as he had a sword at his neck.

"After today's reading, we will fight. If I win, you will not say another word to Zoe, or be derogatory to anyone here for the rest of the book."

"When I win, I will still be known as the greatest demigod ever. You will give me your sword as testament to this."

"It isn't my sword to give. I must ask the true owner." Percy said. He looked over at Zoe. "Riptide rightly belongs to you. What do you say?" Zoe looked shocked that he was asking her permission. For some reason, she felt compelled to nod. "Then it's a deal, Son of Zeus." With that Percy walked back over to his seat like nothing had happened.

**Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

"I am always proud of you," Poseidon whispered, but Percy still heard him.

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

"But I did come back to visit."

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

"How does he remember? He was only like a couple months old?"

"Well, at least you're not easily forgotten." Athena said, before realizing it looked like she had complimented Poseidon. She turned read and turned to Artemis pleadingly.

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...**

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

"Dad, I'm not mad anymore. I understand why you had to stay away. You could have been much worse. Like you could've killed you child for falling in love." This last part was said while looking straight at Zeus.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"Percy!" Thalia and Annabeth screamed.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"Good he better." Annabeth said.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I _have _to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"Not even by demigod standards." Jason of the past said. Of course, what was normal for demigods?

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

"Everything." Percy muttered. "She kept me safe from everything while she sacrificed herself."

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"It was the only way I could check on him without Zeus getting angry!" Poseidon quickly defended himself. Some of the demigods in the room were jealous at how far the sea god went to protect his son.

**Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

"There is no way in Hades that the wimp did the same thing I did." Hercules looked like he was constipated.

"Prune juice, Jerk-er I mean Herk. It will help everything come out better." Hazel said with fake sympathy. Hercules was suddenly surrounded by shadows, and when they cleared, he was pale white and refused to talk. Hades shrugged.

"I warned him about using my name to curse."

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"I don't know what say to that," said Athena.

"Then why did you say anything?" Poseidon retorted.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."**

"That would be confusing," Piper thought about how she would react in Percy's spot. Not as calmly.

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

All the demigods, beside Hercules, groaned. They _hated_ dreams.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"As usual." Hestia grumbled. "Always at each other's throats."

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

"Hades?" asked Leo, quickly regretting it, because of the glare he was receiving from Nico and Hazel. "It said it came from the earth!"

"Why don't you suspect Demeter if that is your logic?" Nico replied. This left everyone stumped.

"Nico is right. We do tend to try and blame Hades first." Apollo said slowly. "I'm sorry Uncle, for treating you like an outcast." Everyone looked at the sun god in shock.

"You are forgiven, Apollo." Hades struggled out. It was hard not to hold a grudge.

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, _No!_**

"I win!"

"Do not be so sure, brother." Was Poseidon's reply.

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said,**

"Hurricane."

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But ****the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

"How dare you, Uncle!" Hermes laughed.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

"Oh gods…" Reyna muttered. Percy didn't even have a weapon on him.

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

"No! Make sure it isn't a monster first!" Hazel yelled.

"Uh, Hazel? It's a book," Frank said to her embarrassment.

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"What?"

"Hush and we can find out."

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

**_"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" _he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you _tell _her?"**

"She just asked what he didn't tell her and then the satyr must ask if he told her? Gods." Zeus grumbled.

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly.**

"Pros of being half Greek god!" Thalia shouted.

**I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—**

**and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...**

"Oh oh. What?" Leo asked excitedly.

"Think Leo, the title is Grover loses his pants, and we know Grover is a satyr." Frank explained slowly.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: _"Percy. _Tell me _now_!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

"Of course. Her son was discovered to be a child of the Big Three and now his life will constantly be in mortal peril." Ares said dismissively.

"Wow. Motral peril? Big words there Ares. I kind of expected you to say. 'Kid found. Will be in danger. Killed Painfully." Hephaestus grinned. Ares glowered at him.

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. _Go_!_"_**

**Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"Dun dun dun!" Nico sang.

"Again with the creepy sound effects, dude." Jason Grace said while shaking his head. Greeks could be so weird. Nico merely grinned.

"I grew up in the Underworld. Please excuse me letting my inner child out for a little while."

"Nico, there is nothing 'inner' about your child like side." Hazel teased her brother. Nico stuck his tongue out.

"You!" He pointed to Jason Grace. "You turned my own sister against me! You shall pay!" Then both started to wrestle on the floor. They stopped when someone cleared their throat. It was Hestia.

"Niece, I shall read next if you will pass the book." Artemis shrugged and handed to book to her aunt.

"**My Mom Teaches Me Bullfighting**," she read.

"Why does she do that?" Hermes asked politely. Percy made a read on gesture. Everyone would hear about how he failed to save his mom.

**Hope you all enjoyed. It is a rainy day and I have nothing better to do, so I may get one more chapter up. Please send out prayers to help the families in Oklahoma who were struck by the tornado. There have been 24 confirmed deaths and 237 confirmed injuries so far, and they haven't found everyone. This same town was hit by another huge tornado in 1999 and thankfully, most now had storm shelter that saved many lives. Yes, I am an Oklahoman and proud of it. Thank you!**

**P.S. I want to say a thanks to smegol26, he pointed out that my bold did not copy from Microsoft onto Fanfiction. **


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